For today's post I decided to mix up the content. I went with some political cartoons that stood out to me on google images. What cartoon stood out the most to you? What are your reactions to some of these?
The last photo caught my eye the most. In many ways, simply educating people about this matter creates an understanding, and as a society we are more able to assess constructive solutions to this crisis. The photo with the politician injecting big pharma in his arm also caught my eye. It reminds me of when we learned about legalized corruption in Public Sector Economics, where politicians have to accept donations (many times from private parties) to remain in office in D.C.
I strongly agree with your comments. People need to be more aware of the current crisis and not surround this issue with so much stigma. These addicts are made out to be bad people, when in fact a lot of them are good people that need help. There are lots of selfish players at hand, especially the big pharma and corrupt politicians, that constantly create these market failures, resulting in a net social welfare loss.
The cartoon depicting big pharma caught my attention. Large pharmaceuticals companies have the funds to really dictate how congress acts regarding drugs. They are also able to push doctors into prescribing their drugs over others to increase their revenue. Profit seems to be more important than the effect these drugs have on people.
This cartoon also stood out to me. The part that I've been most upset with about the opioid crisis, is the role that pharma companies play in the whole thing. Like you said, they push doctors to over-prescribe these drugs and in many ways are largely to blame for the crisis. It's disheartening that these companies are aware of how easy it is for someone to get addicted to their drugs but mass produce them anyway for profit.
For me, the cartoon with Ohio and the needle really got to me. Mainly, this is because I have a lot of family from the Dayton, Ohio area who I asked about the heroine epidemic. They were equally shocked to hear how how many OD's take place in the area. After watching the documentaries it makes sense that Dayton would be the epicenter for drug distribution due to the crossing of the major highways.
Kalamazoo has faced the same problem in the past because it is a highway crossroads. Meth and cocaine in the 70's and 80's moved between Chicago and Detroit. So sad.
The Jeff Sessions cartoon impacted me the most as it perfectly summarized the first chapters of chasing the scream and the obsession of Anslinger to catch people of color with drugs. Instead of being a war on drugs, it is a war on minorities via the medium of drugs, just as there was a war on alcohol before that. Thus, I think that the cartoon shows that Sessions is obsessed with criminalizing individuals that he considers "dangerous" out of prejudice even if they are smoking legal weed.
The second to last image caught my attention. I think lobbying is a major reason for a lot of issues in the U.S. Big money can easily pay and manipulate politicians to do what they want, without them even considering the repercussions of it.
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ReplyDeleteThe last photo caught my eye the most. In many ways, simply educating people about this matter creates an understanding, and as a society we are more able to assess constructive solutions to this crisis. The photo with the politician injecting big pharma in his arm also caught my eye. It reminds me of when we learned about legalized corruption in Public Sector Economics, where politicians have to accept donations (many times from private parties) to remain in office in D.C.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your comments. People need to be more aware of the current crisis and not surround this issue with so much stigma. These addicts are made out to be bad people, when in fact a lot of them are good people that need help. There are lots of selfish players at hand, especially the big pharma and corrupt politicians, that constantly create these market failures, resulting in a net social welfare loss.
DeleteThe cartoon depicting big pharma caught my attention. Large pharmaceuticals companies have the funds to really dictate how congress acts regarding drugs. They are also able to push doctors into prescribing their drugs over others to increase their revenue. Profit seems to be more important than the effect these drugs have on people.
ReplyDeleteThis cartoon also stood out to me. The part that I've been most upset with about the opioid crisis, is the role that pharma companies play in the whole thing. Like you said, they push doctors to over-prescribe these drugs and in many ways are largely to blame for the crisis. It's disheartening that these companies are aware of how easy it is for someone to get addicted to their drugs but mass produce them anyway for profit.
DeleteFor me, the cartoon with Ohio and the needle really got to me. Mainly, this is because I have a lot of family from the Dayton, Ohio area who I asked about the heroine epidemic. They were equally shocked to hear how how many OD's take place in the area. After watching the documentaries it makes sense that Dayton would be the epicenter for drug distribution due to the crossing of the major highways.
ReplyDeleteKalamazoo has faced the same problem in the past because it is a highway crossroads. Meth and cocaine in the 70's and 80's moved between Chicago and Detroit. So sad.
DeleteThe Jeff Sessions cartoon impacted me the most as it perfectly summarized the first chapters of chasing the scream and the obsession of Anslinger to catch people of color with drugs. Instead of being a war on drugs, it is a war on minorities via the medium of drugs, just as there was a war on alcohol before that. Thus, I think that the cartoon shows that Sessions is obsessed with criminalizing individuals that he considers "dangerous" out of prejudice even if they are smoking legal weed.
ReplyDeleteThe second to last image caught my attention. I think lobbying is a major reason for a lot of issues in the U.S. Big money can easily pay and manipulate politicians to do what they want, without them even considering the repercussions of it.
ReplyDelete